FLOYD MAYWEATHER WINS 2012 BEST FIGHTER ESPY AWARD

At the 20th annual ESPY Awards, undefeated multi-division champion Floyd Mayweather took home the Best Fighter award, beating out fellow undefeated champion Andre Ward, as well as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the youngest UFC champion ever, and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who recently extended his win streak to a UFC-best 15 victories, including a record ten straight title defenses. This is the fourth time that he's won the award, taking home the honors in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

The ESPY Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates athletic performances throughout the year. Nominees for each category are voted on and chosen by fans, sportswriters, broadcasters, sports executives, and sports personalities. The winners are then selected exclusively via online fan balloting. ESPN listed the following achievements as the reason for Mayweather's nomination:

On May 5, Floyd Mayweather Jr. scored a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto to win the WBA junior middleweight title. With that victory, Mayweather has won a championship in six different weight classes.

He also scored a controversial fourth-round knockout against Victor Ortiz to take the WBC welterweight title. Mayweather improved to 43-0 (26 KOs) overall and 20-0 in title fights.

Although currently still serving his 90-day jail sentence, Mayweather passed on the following message via his Twitter account upon hearing the news that he won the award:

I am very grateful for my fans and all the continued support. Your letters and pictures are helping my time go by.

Thank you to all the fans who voted and helped me win at tonight's ‪#ESPYs‬. Your continued support is appreciated.

Congratulations to all the other nominees. You guys are GREAT fighters.